I got scammed by Donating member 'alwaysmining' so thats another one for your list (unless you included him in your estimate). It seems like a way to buy credibility (admittedly I was in the wrong for trusting a complete stranger) and a way for them to easily scam their 10btc back.

I gave Hal a VIP tag even though he didn't donate because he is nearly as much of a Bitcoin legend as Satoshi IMO. He received the first-ever Bitcoin transaction, and he's been contributing to Bitcoin since before 0.1 was released.

I gave Hal a VIP tag even though he didn't donate because he is nearly as much of a Bitcoin legend as Satoshi IMO. He received the first-ever Bitcoin transaction, and he's been contributing to Bitcoin since before 0.1 was released.

I have a feeling I'm going to sound stupid for saying this, but who is Hal again? What is his forum nick?

I gave Hal a VIP tag even though he didn't donate because he is nearly as much of a Bitcoin legend as Satoshi IMO. He received the first-ever Bitcoin transaction, and he's been contributing to Bitcoin since before 0.1 was released.

I have a feeling I'm going to sound stupid for saying this, but who is Hal again? What is his forum nick?

You can calculate the forum's current holdings by subtracting the expenses from the total received BTC at 17RTTU... This money just sits, mostly at the cold storage address.

It's a lot of money. I'd really like to get the forum software project moving. I'd hoped that someone really trustworthy would step up and offer to manage the thing. A lot of profit could be made I think, but I guess no one sufficiently trustworthy wants to do it. There were many offers to do the programming, but they were all by people who I didn't really know, and I'm not at all confident in my ability to hire good people for this kind of thing. I've been working a bit on developing a solid core myself this winter break. If I finish that, I'd be able to offer many smaller bounties for less critical sections of the project.

I was also thinking of using some of the the money to hire a lawyer to make sure the forum is protected in every way possible.

The bounty for the forum software project is a damn good amount. If I had any programming experience, you can bet I'd be jumping on it. Wouldn't it be easier to use the money to hire a professional developer or company? You could easily afford it with the value of the current bounty.

I was also thinking of using some of the the money to hire a lawyer to make sure the forum is protected in every way possible.

That sounds like a really good idea too. There are quite a few grey areas here and there that need clarification. A free and open forum is a great thing, but we also need to present a positive image for Bitcoin adopters.

There were many offers to do the programming, but they were all by people who I didn't really know, and I'm not at all confident in my ability to hire good people for this kind of thing. I've been working a bit on developing a solid core myself this winter break. If I finish that, I'd be able to offer many smaller bounties for less critical sections of the project.

I'm sure folks like BCB and others could vet a couple programmers if they were willing to give up some anonymity. Also, you may want to plan on having the bounty be split in such a manner that programmers would audit each other's code and pay an extra .5 BTC for every major bug found and .1 BTC for every minor bug, with a third party who is somewhat familiar with programming defining and judging the allocations.

Additionally, maybe you could make/force/require new Donators/VIPs to not only commit to paying to get the tag, but also to responsibly settle at least one future dispute per year between any two programmers working on the above. Or make the Moderators do it to keep their positions?

Will the donate amount change with the BTC value? Bearing in mind 10BTC is worth around $600 now, I'm sure thats much more than 1 months hosting

However, there's a point to be made that changing the donations threshold might be unfair to previous donators.

Welcome to the concept called deflation, where everything you buy is cheaper than what someone else paid for it a few months/years ago. If that is a point that needs to be made, then we're all in for a whole world of hurt.

I see no reason to lower price and thus refund current supporters. We could always make a new title at one btc or whatever.

It wouldn't hurt me in any way to make donator status available for less bitcoins. I want to see this forum improve. If you want bragging rights, maybe your donation numerical order number could be added.

Any significantly advanced cryptocurrency is indistinguishable from Ponzi Tulips.